13 sept 2012
Coptic Christian leader of organization that produced anti-Muslim film spoke at Pamela Geller’s anti-mosque rally
Joseph Nasralla Abdelmasih, on the far right, is the head of Media Christ, the organization behind the anti-Muslim film that sparked protests in the Middle East. To his left is Morris Sadek, an Egyptian-American anti-Muslim activist.
This post has been updated to include a response from Pamela Geller. Scroll to the bottom to see the response.
The leader of the organization reportedly behind the anti-Muslim film sparking angry protests in the Middle East spoke at a rally opposing the Park 51 Islamic center in lower Manhattan last year. That rally, on September 11, 2010, was organized by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, two leading Islamophobic activists and bloggers in the U.S.
The California-based Press Telegram reports today that an organization called Media for Christ produced the Islamophobic film at the center of the controversy that has sparked widespread protests in the Middle East. The film, "Innocence of Muslims," portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a womanizer, a gay man and a child abuser. Depictions of the Prophet are considered blasphemous to Muslims.
The head of Media for Christ is Joseph Abdelmasih, the Press Telegram reports. On California's Secretary of State page, Media for Christ is registered as a business entity with Joseph Nasralla Abdelmasih listed as the "agent for service of process." Here's a screenshot of the Secretary of State page:
This post has been updated to include a response from Pamela Geller. Scroll to the bottom to see the response.
The leader of the organization reportedly behind the anti-Muslim film sparking angry protests in the Middle East spoke at a rally opposing the Park 51 Islamic center in lower Manhattan last year. That rally, on September 11, 2010, was organized by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, two leading Islamophobic activists and bloggers in the U.S.
The California-based Press Telegram reports today that an organization called Media for Christ produced the Islamophobic film at the center of the controversy that has sparked widespread protests in the Middle East. The film, "Innocence of Muslims," portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a womanizer, a gay man and a child abuser. Depictions of the Prophet are considered blasphemous to Muslims.
The head of Media for Christ is Joseph Abdelmasih, the Press Telegram reports. On California's Secretary of State page, Media for Christ is registered as a business entity with Joseph Nasralla Abdelmasih listed as the "agent for service of process." Here's a screenshot of the Secretary of State page:
Nasralla Abdelmasih is an Egyptian Coptic Christian. Some members of that community, which have experienced tensions with Muslims in Egypt, have thrown their lot in with virulent Islamophobes in the U.S.
The Associated Press revealed more details of who was behind the film yesterday, after a day-long scramble. The AP originally reported that it was an Israeli Jewish person who made the film, but that was a false claim. |
Last night, the news service reported that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Coptic Christian living in California, helped with the film.
It appears that Nakoula now had help from Abdelmasih.
Abdelmasih spoke at Geller's and Spencer's anti-mosque rally in Manhattan in 2010. The rally was organized to oppose the construction of the Park 51 Islamic center in lower Manhattan, a cause that attracted widespread media attention and led to other high-profile battles against the construction of mosques in the U.S.
"Wake up America!" said Abdelmasih, to a crowd of flag-waving Americans. He said the mosque will be built "over my dead body." Here's video of his address:
It appears that Nakoula now had help from Abdelmasih.
Abdelmasih spoke at Geller's and Spencer's anti-mosque rally in Manhattan in 2010. The rally was organized to oppose the construction of the Park 51 Islamic center in lower Manhattan, a cause that attracted widespread media attention and led to other high-profile battles against the construction of mosques in the U.S.
"Wake up America!" said Abdelmasih, to a crowd of flag-waving Americans. He said the mosque will be built "over my dead body." Here's video of his address:
|
Ironically, the crowd at the anti-mosque rally first thought that Abdelmasih and his partner were Muslim "infiltrators trying to disrupt the event," as a letter Abdelmasih sent to Geller and Spencer read. The letter was published on Spencer's Jihad Watch website.
Nasralla Abdelmasih has also worked with Steve Klein, the right-wing Christian extremist who was a consultant on the film. Yesterday, Max Blumenthal reported that "in July 2011, Spencer’s website, Jihad Watch, promoted a rally Klein organized alongside the anti-Muslim Coptic extremist Joseph Nasrallah to demand the firing of LA County Sheriff Lee Baca, whom they painted as a dupe for Hamas." Pictured above with Nasralla Abdelmasih is Morris Sadek. Sadek, as Chris Toensing of Middle East Report notes, is "well known for risible exaggeration about the proportion of Copts in the Egyptian population and clumsy attempts to exploit Islamophobia in the West to 'help' his co-religionists in Egypt." Right Wing Watch has more on Sadek: Sadek pulled his Facebook profile around 1 pm today, but we were able to take a look beforehand. Here’s what we found.
Sadek is a supporter of ACT! for America, which believes that President Obama has embraced the Muslim Brotherhood. The group rallied its supporters last month behind Michelle Bachmann’s anti-Muslim witch hunt against Huma Abedin and others. Here’s Sadek with ACT! For America president Brigitte Gabriel at one of the group’s 2010 events. |
UPDATE: I e-mailed Pamela Geller to get her response to the fact that the leader of Media for Christ spoke at her anti-mosque rally in 2010. Here's her response:
This story identifies someone else, Nakoula Nakoula, as the person behind the film:
link to news.yahoo.com below
So are you really sure of your assertions here? Facts matter. Is it your intention to put innocent human rights activists in the cross-hairs of savage jihadists?
In any case, whether or not Joseph Nassralla was involved in this film, it doesn't matter, because the film itself doesn't matter. It was not the cause of these riots and murders. The film was on YouTube for months before the Muslim rage over it began, and that rage was clearly carefully planned and orchestrated.
The film is just a pretext to justify the violence and intimidate the West into adopting Sharia restrictions on the freedom of speech, so that jihad can advance unimpeded and unopposed in the West. And you, by focusing on the film and demonizing the filmmakers, are abetting that.
Yahoo: APNewsBreak: US identifies anti-Muslim filmmaker
Federal authorities have identified a Coptic Christian in southern California who is on probation after his conviction for financial crimes as the key figure behind the anti-Muslim film that ignited mob violence against U.S. embassies across the Mideast, a U.S. law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday. The official said authorities had concluded that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was behind "Innocence of Muslims," a film that denigrated Islam and the prophet Muhammad and sparked protests earlier this week in Egypt, Libya and most recently in Yemen. It was not immediately clear whether Nakoula was the target of a criminal investigation or part of the broader investigation into the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya during a terrorist attack.
Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed Thursday that Justice Department officials were investigating the deaths, which occurred during an attack on the American mission in Benghazi.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, said Nakoula was connected to the persona of Sam Bacile, a man who initially told the AP he was the film's writer and director. But Bacile turned out to be a false identity, and the AP traced a cellphone number Bacile used to a southern California house where it located and interviewed Nakoula.
Bacile initially told AP he was Jewish and Israeli, although Israeli officials said they had no records of such a citizen. Others involved in the film said his statements were contrived, as evidence mounted that the film's key player was a Coptic Christian with a checkered past.
Nakoula told the AP in an interview outside Los Angeles on Wednesday that he managed logistics for the company that produced the film. Nakoula denied he was Bacile and said he did not direct the film, though he said he knew Bacile.
Federal court papers filed against Nakoula in a 2010 criminal prosecution noted that he had used numerous aliases, including Nicola Bacily, Robert Bacily, Erwin Salameh and others.
During a conversation outside his home, Nakoula offered his driver's license to show his identity but kept his thumb over his middle name, Basseley. Records checks by the AP subsequently found that middle name as well as other connections to the Bacile persona.
The AP located the man calling himself Bacile after obtaining his cellphone number from Morris Sadek, a conservative Coptic Christian in the U.S. who has promoted the anti-Muslim film in recent days on his website. Egypt's Christian Coptic populace has long decried what they describe as a history of discrimination and occasional violence from the country's Muslim majority.
Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Fla., who sparked outrage in the Arab world when he burned Qurans on the ninth anniversary of 9/11, said he spoke with the movie's director on the phone Wednesday and prayed for him. Jones said he has not met the filmmaker in person but added that the man contacted him a few weeks ago about promoting the movie. Jones and others who have dealt with the filmmaker said Wednesday that Bacile was hiding his real identity.
"I have not met him. Sam Bacile, that is not his real name," Jones said. "He is definitely in hiding and does not reveal his identity."
The YouTube account under the username "Sam Bacile" was used to publish excerpts of the provocative movie in July and was used to post comments online as recently as Tuesday, including this defense of the film written in Arabic: "It is a 100 percent American movie, you cows."
Nakoula, who talked guardedly with AP about his role, pleaded no contest in 2010 to federal bank fraud charges in California and was ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and was ordered not to use computers or the Internet for five years without approval from his probation officer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Leigh Williams said Nakoula set up fraudulent bank accounts using stolen identities and Social Security numbers; then, checks from those accounts would be deposited into other bogus accounts from which Nakoula would withdraw money at ATM machines.
It was "basically a check-kiting scheme," the prosecutor told the AP. "You try to get the money out of the bank before the bank realizes they are drawn from a fraudulent account. There basically is no money."
Prior to his bank fraud conviction, Nakoula struggled with a series of financial problems in recent years, according to California state tax and bankruptcy records. In June 2006, a $191,000 tax lien was filed against him in the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds office. In 1997, a $106,000 lien was filed against him in Orange County.
American actors and actresses who appeared in "Innocence of Muslims" issued a joint statement Wednesday saying they were misled about the project and alleged that some of their dialogue was crudely dubbed during post-production.
In the English-language version of the trailer, direct references to Muhammad appear to be the result of post-production changes to the movie. Either actors aren't seen when the name "Muhammad" is spoken in the overdubbed sound, or they appear to be mouthing something else as the name of the prophet is spoken.
"The entire cast and crew are extremely upset and feel taken advantage of by the producer," said the statement, obtained by the Los Angeles Times. "We are 100 percent not behind this film and were grossly misled about its intent and purpose. We are shocked by the drastic rewrites of the script and lies that were told to all involved. We are deeply saddened by the tragedies that have occurred."
One of the actresses, Cindy Lee Garcia, told KERO-TV in Bakersfield that the film was originally titled "Desert Warriors" and the script did not contain offensive references to Islam.
"When I found out this movie had caused all this havoc, I called Sam and asked him why, what happened, why did he do this? I said, 'Why did you do this to us, to me and to us?' And he said, 'Tell the world that it wasn't you that did it, it was me, the one who wrote the script, because I'm tired of the radical Muslims running around killing everyone,'" she said.
Garcia said the director, who called himself Sam Bacile, told her then that he was Egyptian.
The man identifying himself as Bacile told the AP he was an Israeli-born, 56-year-old Jewish writer and director. But a Christian activist involved in the film project, Steve Klein, told the AP on Wednesday that Bacile was a pseudonym and that the man was Christian. Klein had told the AP on Tuesday that the filmmaker was an Israeli Jew who was concerned for family members who live in Egypt.
About 15 key players from the Middle East — people from Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran, and a couple of Coptic Christians from Egypt — worked on the film, Klein said.
"Most of them won't tell me their real names because they're terrified," Klein said.
Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Los Angeles said Thursday that the church opposes the views expressed in the inflammatory movie, and, initially, none of his priests recognized Nakoula as a congregant. On Thursday morning, Nakoula called Serapion and said he had attended services at the church in Bellflower, Calif.
Serapion told the AP that Nakoula immediately claimed innocence on the phone call, saying there had been a mix-up with his name and he had no involvement with the movie.
"This is the first sentence he mentioned, that is 'I want to tell you I am not part of it,'" said Serapion.
Serapion told the AP he confirmed with the priest in Bellflower that Nakoula had once gone to the parish but hadn't been to services in a very long time.
Serapion said only "God knows" if Nakoula was truthful, but the holy man told Nakoula the filmmaker must take responsibility.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, said Klein is a former Marine and longtime religious-right activist who has helped train paramilitary militias at a California church. It described Klein as founder of Courageous Christians United, which conducts protests outside abortion clinics, Mormon temples and mosques.
Google Inc., which owns YouTube, pulled down the video Wednesday in Egypt, citing a legal complaint. It was still accessible in the U.S. and other countries.
___
Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus, Shaya Tayefe Mohajer and Michael Blood in Los Angeles; Tamara Lush in Tampa, Fla.; and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
Protesters burn US flags in Qalqiliya
Dozens of protesters took to the streets after prayers on Thursday evening to condemn a film they said insulted Prophet Muhammad.
Demonstrators chanted slogans against the US, where the film was apparently produced, and burned American flags. They said the film was a direct act of provocation by the US against Muslims.
Protests against the film were also held in Gaza on Wednesday and Thursday, and in Cairo and Sanaa.
The film sparked an attack on a US mission in Libya on Tuesday that killed the ambassador and three other Americans. Clips posted on the Internet show an amateurish production portraying the Prophet Mohammad as a womanizer, a homosexual and a child abuser.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned the film as "disgusting and reprehensible," adding that the US government had "absolutely nothing to do with (it)."
But, the US tradition of free expression, enshrined in the American constitution and law, prevented it from stopping individual citizens expressing their views "no matter how distasteful they may be," Clinton said.
"There are of course different views around the world about the outer limits of free speech and free expression. But there should be no debate about the simple proposition that violence in response to speech is not acceptable," she added.
Who is Sam Bacile? Questions Swirl About Anti-Muslim Film
This story identifies someone else, Nakoula Nakoula, as the person behind the film:
link to news.yahoo.com below
So are you really sure of your assertions here? Facts matter. Is it your intention to put innocent human rights activists in the cross-hairs of savage jihadists?
In any case, whether or not Joseph Nassralla was involved in this film, it doesn't matter, because the film itself doesn't matter. It was not the cause of these riots and murders. The film was on YouTube for months before the Muslim rage over it began, and that rage was clearly carefully planned and orchestrated.
The film is just a pretext to justify the violence and intimidate the West into adopting Sharia restrictions on the freedom of speech, so that jihad can advance unimpeded and unopposed in the West. And you, by focusing on the film and demonizing the filmmakers, are abetting that.
Yahoo: APNewsBreak: US identifies anti-Muslim filmmaker
Federal authorities have identified a Coptic Christian in southern California who is on probation after his conviction for financial crimes as the key figure behind the anti-Muslim film that ignited mob violence against U.S. embassies across the Mideast, a U.S. law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday. The official said authorities had concluded that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was behind "Innocence of Muslims," a film that denigrated Islam and the prophet Muhammad and sparked protests earlier this week in Egypt, Libya and most recently in Yemen. It was not immediately clear whether Nakoula was the target of a criminal investigation or part of the broader investigation into the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya during a terrorist attack.
Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed Thursday that Justice Department officials were investigating the deaths, which occurred during an attack on the American mission in Benghazi.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, said Nakoula was connected to the persona of Sam Bacile, a man who initially told the AP he was the film's writer and director. But Bacile turned out to be a false identity, and the AP traced a cellphone number Bacile used to a southern California house where it located and interviewed Nakoula.
Bacile initially told AP he was Jewish and Israeli, although Israeli officials said they had no records of such a citizen. Others involved in the film said his statements were contrived, as evidence mounted that the film's key player was a Coptic Christian with a checkered past.
Nakoula told the AP in an interview outside Los Angeles on Wednesday that he managed logistics for the company that produced the film. Nakoula denied he was Bacile and said he did not direct the film, though he said he knew Bacile.
Federal court papers filed against Nakoula in a 2010 criminal prosecution noted that he had used numerous aliases, including Nicola Bacily, Robert Bacily, Erwin Salameh and others.
During a conversation outside his home, Nakoula offered his driver's license to show his identity but kept his thumb over his middle name, Basseley. Records checks by the AP subsequently found that middle name as well as other connections to the Bacile persona.
The AP located the man calling himself Bacile after obtaining his cellphone number from Morris Sadek, a conservative Coptic Christian in the U.S. who has promoted the anti-Muslim film in recent days on his website. Egypt's Christian Coptic populace has long decried what they describe as a history of discrimination and occasional violence from the country's Muslim majority.
Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Fla., who sparked outrage in the Arab world when he burned Qurans on the ninth anniversary of 9/11, said he spoke with the movie's director on the phone Wednesday and prayed for him. Jones said he has not met the filmmaker in person but added that the man contacted him a few weeks ago about promoting the movie. Jones and others who have dealt with the filmmaker said Wednesday that Bacile was hiding his real identity.
"I have not met him. Sam Bacile, that is not his real name," Jones said. "He is definitely in hiding and does not reveal his identity."
The YouTube account under the username "Sam Bacile" was used to publish excerpts of the provocative movie in July and was used to post comments online as recently as Tuesday, including this defense of the film written in Arabic: "It is a 100 percent American movie, you cows."
Nakoula, who talked guardedly with AP about his role, pleaded no contest in 2010 to federal bank fraud charges in California and was ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and was ordered not to use computers or the Internet for five years without approval from his probation officer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Leigh Williams said Nakoula set up fraudulent bank accounts using stolen identities and Social Security numbers; then, checks from those accounts would be deposited into other bogus accounts from which Nakoula would withdraw money at ATM machines.
It was "basically a check-kiting scheme," the prosecutor told the AP. "You try to get the money out of the bank before the bank realizes they are drawn from a fraudulent account. There basically is no money."
Prior to his bank fraud conviction, Nakoula struggled with a series of financial problems in recent years, according to California state tax and bankruptcy records. In June 2006, a $191,000 tax lien was filed against him in the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds office. In 1997, a $106,000 lien was filed against him in Orange County.
American actors and actresses who appeared in "Innocence of Muslims" issued a joint statement Wednesday saying they were misled about the project and alleged that some of their dialogue was crudely dubbed during post-production.
In the English-language version of the trailer, direct references to Muhammad appear to be the result of post-production changes to the movie. Either actors aren't seen when the name "Muhammad" is spoken in the overdubbed sound, or they appear to be mouthing something else as the name of the prophet is spoken.
"The entire cast and crew are extremely upset and feel taken advantage of by the producer," said the statement, obtained by the Los Angeles Times. "We are 100 percent not behind this film and were grossly misled about its intent and purpose. We are shocked by the drastic rewrites of the script and lies that were told to all involved. We are deeply saddened by the tragedies that have occurred."
One of the actresses, Cindy Lee Garcia, told KERO-TV in Bakersfield that the film was originally titled "Desert Warriors" and the script did not contain offensive references to Islam.
"When I found out this movie had caused all this havoc, I called Sam and asked him why, what happened, why did he do this? I said, 'Why did you do this to us, to me and to us?' And he said, 'Tell the world that it wasn't you that did it, it was me, the one who wrote the script, because I'm tired of the radical Muslims running around killing everyone,'" she said.
Garcia said the director, who called himself Sam Bacile, told her then that he was Egyptian.
The man identifying himself as Bacile told the AP he was an Israeli-born, 56-year-old Jewish writer and director. But a Christian activist involved in the film project, Steve Klein, told the AP on Wednesday that Bacile was a pseudonym and that the man was Christian. Klein had told the AP on Tuesday that the filmmaker was an Israeli Jew who was concerned for family members who live in Egypt.
About 15 key players from the Middle East — people from Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran, and a couple of Coptic Christians from Egypt — worked on the film, Klein said.
"Most of them won't tell me their real names because they're terrified," Klein said.
Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Los Angeles said Thursday that the church opposes the views expressed in the inflammatory movie, and, initially, none of his priests recognized Nakoula as a congregant. On Thursday morning, Nakoula called Serapion and said he had attended services at the church in Bellflower, Calif.
Serapion told the AP that Nakoula immediately claimed innocence on the phone call, saying there had been a mix-up with his name and he had no involvement with the movie.
"This is the first sentence he mentioned, that is 'I want to tell you I am not part of it,'" said Serapion.
Serapion told the AP he confirmed with the priest in Bellflower that Nakoula had once gone to the parish but hadn't been to services in a very long time.
Serapion said only "God knows" if Nakoula was truthful, but the holy man told Nakoula the filmmaker must take responsibility.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, said Klein is a former Marine and longtime religious-right activist who has helped train paramilitary militias at a California church. It described Klein as founder of Courageous Christians United, which conducts protests outside abortion clinics, Mormon temples and mosques.
Google Inc., which owns YouTube, pulled down the video Wednesday in Egypt, citing a legal complaint. It was still accessible in the U.S. and other countries.
___
Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus, Shaya Tayefe Mohajer and Michael Blood in Los Angeles; Tamara Lush in Tampa, Fla.; and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
Protesters burn US flags in Qalqiliya
Dozens of protesters took to the streets after prayers on Thursday evening to condemn a film they said insulted Prophet Muhammad.
Demonstrators chanted slogans against the US, where the film was apparently produced, and burned American flags. They said the film was a direct act of provocation by the US against Muslims.
Protests against the film were also held in Gaza on Wednesday and Thursday, and in Cairo and Sanaa.
The film sparked an attack on a US mission in Libya on Tuesday that killed the ambassador and three other Americans. Clips posted on the Internet show an amateurish production portraying the Prophet Mohammad as a womanizer, a homosexual and a child abuser.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned the film as "disgusting and reprehensible," adding that the US government had "absolutely nothing to do with (it)."
But, the US tradition of free expression, enshrined in the American constitution and law, prevented it from stopping individual citizens expressing their views "no matter how distasteful they may be," Clinton said.
"There are of course different views around the world about the outer limits of free speech and free expression. But there should be no debate about the simple proposition that violence in response to speech is not acceptable," she added.
Who is Sam Bacile? Questions Swirl About Anti-Muslim Film
CNN has been unable to contact Bacile and cannot verify his claims. A search by CNN of public records related to Bacile came up empty.
Steve Klein, an anti-Muslim activist who said he was a script consultant for the movie, said Bacile had gone into hiding.
"He's very depressed, and he's upset," Klein said Wednesday. "I talked to him this morning, and he said that he was very concerned for what happened to the ambassador."
Casting further doubt on the filmmaker's identity, The Atlantic later quoted Klein as saying Sam Bacile was a pseudonym.
He told The Atlantic he did not know Bacile's real name.
Klein is known in Southern California for his vocal opposition to the construction of a mosque in Temecula, southeast of Los Angeles, in 2010. He heads up Concerned Citizens for the First Amendment, a group that contends Islam is a threat to American freedom.
A search of entertainment records turned up no previous mention of a Sam Bacile, and the directors and writers guilds had no listing for him.
A casting call published in July 2011 in Backstage magazine and in other publications for actors identifies the working title of the movie as "Desert Warrior" and describes it as a "historical Arabian Desert adventure film."
Actress says was duped, as anti-Islam film details emerge
By Alex Dobuzinskis
The origins of a crudely made anti-Muslim movie that sparked violent protests in Egypt and Libya began to slowly emerge on Wednesday, with an actress in the California production saying she was duped and was unaware it was about the Prophet Mohammad.
Cindy Lee Garcia of Bakersfield, California, who appears briefly in clips of the film posted online, said she answered a casting call last year to appear in a movie titled "Desert Warrior."
"It looks so unreal to me, it's like nothing that we even filmed was there. There was all this weird stuff there," Garcia told Reuters in a phone interview.
Clips of the movie, posted on YouTube under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims," portrayed the Muslim prophet engaged in crude and offensive behavior. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the prophet as blasphemous.
Clips had been posted online for weeks before apparently triggering violent demonstrations on Tuesday at the US embassy in Cairo and consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
The Americans died after gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house refuge in Benghazi in an attack US government officials said on Wednesday may have been planned in advance. The attackers were part of a crowd blaming America for a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
Garcia said the film was shot in the summer of 2011 inside a church near Los Angeles, with actors standing in front of a "green screen," used to depict background images. About 50 actors were involved, she said.
An expired casting notice at Backstage.com listed a film named "Desert Warrior" that it described as a low-budget "historical Arabian Desert adventure film." None of the characters were identified in the casting call as Mohammad.
"They told me it was based on what it was like 2,000 years ago at the time of the Lord," Garcia said. "Like the time Christ was here."
Filmmaker
Several US news organizations on Tuesday night had reported that the film was produced by a man who identified himself as an Israeli-American property developer, Sam Bacile. He had told the media organizations that the film cost $5 million, some of which was paid by around 100 Jewish donors.
Reuters could not independently confirm his responsibility for the film, or even that Bacile was his real name, nor could he be located for comment.
The Backstage.com casting call listed a man of a similar name, Sam Bassiel, as the producer, while the director was named as Alan Roberts. Roberts could not be immediately located by Reuters.
Steven Klein, a southern California man in the insurance business who described himself as a consultant and a spokesman for the project -- but not the filmaker -- said he believed the name was a pseudonym.
"I've met him twice, I don't know what country he's from. I do know he's not an Israeli Jew and I can only guess he threw that out to protect his family, which I do know is back in the Middle East," Klein told Reuters in an interview in front of his home in Hemet, California, as he sipped a beer.
Klein, who described himself as a former US Marine, said he advised the filmmaker to go into hiding.
Hate-group tracker the Southern Poverty Law Center has described Klein as a Christian with ties to right-wing extremists, which he denies. He said he did not see the film being made, and it could not be independently confirmed that Klein was involved with the project.
Voice over
The largely obscure English-language film's low production values were evident in its stilted dialogue and wooden acting. Klein said there was an attempt to screen the full movie at a theater in southern California under a slightly different title, but after 30 minutes into the film no tickets had been sold.
Garcia, who appeared in online clips from the film, said her character was forced to give away her child to a character named "Master George" in one scene. The casting call describes a character named George as a "strong leader" and a "tyrant."
But in a 13-minute trailer posted at YouTube.com, Garcia's character appears to be dubbed over in that scene, with a voice-over for her character referring to Mohammad instead of George.
YouTube, the video website owned by Google Inc, has restricted access to the film clips in Egypt and Libya, according to Google.
Garcia said she remembered the film's producer as a man named Sam Bassil, whom she described as an older man with graying hair and an accent. She said he paid her with a check. She said she called him on Wednesday after the protests.
"I asked him why did he do that and put me in a bad position to where all these people get killed for a movie I was in?" Garcia said, adding that the man she knew as Bassil told her it was not her fault.
Meanwhile, Morris Sadek, a US-based Egyptian Coptic Christian activist who said he promoted the film, told Reuters he was sorry US diplomats had been killed and that his objective had been to highlight discrimination against Copts in Egypt.
Coptic Christians, who form Egypt's biggest minority group and constitute most of Egypt's Christian population, have had a difficult relationship with the country's overwhelmingly Muslim majority.
Conflicts over conversions, cross-faith romances and church-building have flared in Egyptian towns where turf wars or family rivalries often loom as large as sectarian loyalties.
Since former President Hosni Mubarak's removal, Christians have become increasingly worried after a surge in attacks on churches, which they blame on hardline Islamists, though experts say local disputes are often also behind them.
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church has condemned some Copts living abroad who it said had financed "the production of a film insulting Prophet Mohammad."
Representatives from the Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America did not immediately respond to phone calls requesting comment.
Klein blamed the violence in North Africa on Muslim extremists.
"Do I have blood on my hands? No," said Klein, who the SPLC said has worked with a militia at the California-based Church at Kaweah and conducts drills with a San Francisco-based group named Christian Guardians.
"Those people are screwballs," Klein said of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He added he is not "what these people say."
Steve Klein, an anti-Muslim activist who said he was a script consultant for the movie, said Bacile had gone into hiding.
"He's very depressed, and he's upset," Klein said Wednesday. "I talked to him this morning, and he said that he was very concerned for what happened to the ambassador."
Casting further doubt on the filmmaker's identity, The Atlantic later quoted Klein as saying Sam Bacile was a pseudonym.
He told The Atlantic he did not know Bacile's real name.
Klein is known in Southern California for his vocal opposition to the construction of a mosque in Temecula, southeast of Los Angeles, in 2010. He heads up Concerned Citizens for the First Amendment, a group that contends Islam is a threat to American freedom.
A search of entertainment records turned up no previous mention of a Sam Bacile, and the directors and writers guilds had no listing for him.
A casting call published in July 2011 in Backstage magazine and in other publications for actors identifies the working title of the movie as "Desert Warrior" and describes it as a "historical Arabian Desert adventure film."
Actress says was duped, as anti-Islam film details emerge
By Alex Dobuzinskis
The origins of a crudely made anti-Muslim movie that sparked violent protests in Egypt and Libya began to slowly emerge on Wednesday, with an actress in the California production saying she was duped and was unaware it was about the Prophet Mohammad.
Cindy Lee Garcia of Bakersfield, California, who appears briefly in clips of the film posted online, said she answered a casting call last year to appear in a movie titled "Desert Warrior."
"It looks so unreal to me, it's like nothing that we even filmed was there. There was all this weird stuff there," Garcia told Reuters in a phone interview.
Clips of the movie, posted on YouTube under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims," portrayed the Muslim prophet engaged in crude and offensive behavior. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the prophet as blasphemous.
Clips had been posted online for weeks before apparently triggering violent demonstrations on Tuesday at the US embassy in Cairo and consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
The Americans died after gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house refuge in Benghazi in an attack US government officials said on Wednesday may have been planned in advance. The attackers were part of a crowd blaming America for a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
Garcia said the film was shot in the summer of 2011 inside a church near Los Angeles, with actors standing in front of a "green screen," used to depict background images. About 50 actors were involved, she said.
An expired casting notice at Backstage.com listed a film named "Desert Warrior" that it described as a low-budget "historical Arabian Desert adventure film." None of the characters were identified in the casting call as Mohammad.
"They told me it was based on what it was like 2,000 years ago at the time of the Lord," Garcia said. "Like the time Christ was here."
Filmmaker
Several US news organizations on Tuesday night had reported that the film was produced by a man who identified himself as an Israeli-American property developer, Sam Bacile. He had told the media organizations that the film cost $5 million, some of which was paid by around 100 Jewish donors.
Reuters could not independently confirm his responsibility for the film, or even that Bacile was his real name, nor could he be located for comment.
The Backstage.com casting call listed a man of a similar name, Sam Bassiel, as the producer, while the director was named as Alan Roberts. Roberts could not be immediately located by Reuters.
Steven Klein, a southern California man in the insurance business who described himself as a consultant and a spokesman for the project -- but not the filmaker -- said he believed the name was a pseudonym.
"I've met him twice, I don't know what country he's from. I do know he's not an Israeli Jew and I can only guess he threw that out to protect his family, which I do know is back in the Middle East," Klein told Reuters in an interview in front of his home in Hemet, California, as he sipped a beer.
Klein, who described himself as a former US Marine, said he advised the filmmaker to go into hiding.
Hate-group tracker the Southern Poverty Law Center has described Klein as a Christian with ties to right-wing extremists, which he denies. He said he did not see the film being made, and it could not be independently confirmed that Klein was involved with the project.
Voice over
The largely obscure English-language film's low production values were evident in its stilted dialogue and wooden acting. Klein said there was an attempt to screen the full movie at a theater in southern California under a slightly different title, but after 30 minutes into the film no tickets had been sold.
Garcia, who appeared in online clips from the film, said her character was forced to give away her child to a character named "Master George" in one scene. The casting call describes a character named George as a "strong leader" and a "tyrant."
But in a 13-minute trailer posted at YouTube.com, Garcia's character appears to be dubbed over in that scene, with a voice-over for her character referring to Mohammad instead of George.
YouTube, the video website owned by Google Inc, has restricted access to the film clips in Egypt and Libya, according to Google.
Garcia said she remembered the film's producer as a man named Sam Bassil, whom she described as an older man with graying hair and an accent. She said he paid her with a check. She said she called him on Wednesday after the protests.
"I asked him why did he do that and put me in a bad position to where all these people get killed for a movie I was in?" Garcia said, adding that the man she knew as Bassil told her it was not her fault.
Meanwhile, Morris Sadek, a US-based Egyptian Coptic Christian activist who said he promoted the film, told Reuters he was sorry US diplomats had been killed and that his objective had been to highlight discrimination against Copts in Egypt.
Coptic Christians, who form Egypt's biggest minority group and constitute most of Egypt's Christian population, have had a difficult relationship with the country's overwhelmingly Muslim majority.
Conflicts over conversions, cross-faith romances and church-building have flared in Egyptian towns where turf wars or family rivalries often loom as large as sectarian loyalties.
Since former President Hosni Mubarak's removal, Christians have become increasingly worried after a surge in attacks on churches, which they blame on hardline Islamists, though experts say local disputes are often also behind them.
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church has condemned some Copts living abroad who it said had financed "the production of a film insulting Prophet Mohammad."
Representatives from the Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America did not immediately respond to phone calls requesting comment.
Klein blamed the violence in North Africa on Muslim extremists.
"Do I have blood on my hands? No," said Klein, who the SPLC said has worked with a militia at the California-based Church at Kaweah and conducts drills with a San Francisco-based group named Christian Guardians.
"Those people are screwballs," Klein said of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He added he is not "what these people say."
Slain US envoy 'understood Palestinian situation'
A demonstrator holds a placard during a rally to condemn the killers of the US envoy to Libya and the attack on a consulate, in Benghazi on Sept. 12, 2012
By George Hale
Palestinian negotiators on Thursday remembered US ambassador Christopher Stevens as fair-minded and described his death in Libya as a major loss for American foreign policy.
Stevens, who was killed with three colleagues late Tuesday in an attack on US institutions in Benghazi, served a decade earlier as a political officer at the US consulate in Jerusalem.
"It's just tragic," said Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO leader and veteran negotiator with Israel. "It's very sad. I thought he was a person who was not just intelligent but also caring."
As a mediator, the Arabic-speaking envoy "understood the Palestinian situation well. He was very understanding and he listened; he didn't repeat talking points," Ashrawi said in an interview. "He could have made a big difference in peoples' lives and, really, to America's standing and credibility. His loss is a loss not only to US foreign policy but also to its standing with other states."
Stevens and three other Americans died after gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house refuge in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday night. The attackers were part of a mob blaming America for a film they said insulted the prophet Mohammad.
Demonstrators later attacked the US embassies in Yemen and Egypt in protests against the film, and American warships were moved closer to Libya.
Senior PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat blasted Stevens' murder as an "ugly act of terror."
"He was a really close friend of the family, and I am really shocked," Erekat told Ma'an. "He was murdered in a very ugly act of terror, and it's so despicable."
Erekat said he had personally communicated to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the Palestinian people's condolences.
"Such a good man, such a great loss. His heart was in the peace process, and I'm sure his heart was also in the building of Libya," Erekat said.
"Of course no one tolerates the discrediting of our prophet Mohammad, but what did Stevens have to do with it? That's really unacceptable," he said of the alleged motive.
Earlier Clinton said Washington had nothing to do with the video, which she called "disgusting and reprehensible".
In Ramallah, President Mahmoud Abbas offered his condolences to the White House upon learning of the killing, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency reported.
"On behalf of myself, personally, and all Palestinian people, we offer sincere condolences to the US president after the US ambassador in Libya was killed in a criminal attack," Abbas said.
Israeli officials also condemned the string of attacks against US diplomatic missions and said they were "evil terrorist attacks" against the West, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
In Tripoli late Thursday, Libyan deputy interior minister Wanis Sharif said authorities had made four arrests in the investigation so far.
"Four men are in custody and we are interrogating them because they are suspected of helping instigate the events at the US consulate," Sharif said.
He gave no more details.
President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice those responsible for the Benghazi attack, which US officials said may have been planned in advance.
By George Hale
Palestinian negotiators on Thursday remembered US ambassador Christopher Stevens as fair-minded and described his death in Libya as a major loss for American foreign policy.
Stevens, who was killed with three colleagues late Tuesday in an attack on US institutions in Benghazi, served a decade earlier as a political officer at the US consulate in Jerusalem.
"It's just tragic," said Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO leader and veteran negotiator with Israel. "It's very sad. I thought he was a person who was not just intelligent but also caring."
As a mediator, the Arabic-speaking envoy "understood the Palestinian situation well. He was very understanding and he listened; he didn't repeat talking points," Ashrawi said in an interview. "He could have made a big difference in peoples' lives and, really, to America's standing and credibility. His loss is a loss not only to US foreign policy but also to its standing with other states."
Stevens and three other Americans died after gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house refuge in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday night. The attackers were part of a mob blaming America for a film they said insulted the prophet Mohammad.
Demonstrators later attacked the US embassies in Yemen and Egypt in protests against the film, and American warships were moved closer to Libya.
Senior PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat blasted Stevens' murder as an "ugly act of terror."
"He was a really close friend of the family, and I am really shocked," Erekat told Ma'an. "He was murdered in a very ugly act of terror, and it's so despicable."
Erekat said he had personally communicated to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the Palestinian people's condolences.
"Such a good man, such a great loss. His heart was in the peace process, and I'm sure his heart was also in the building of Libya," Erekat said.
"Of course no one tolerates the discrediting of our prophet Mohammad, but what did Stevens have to do with it? That's really unacceptable," he said of the alleged motive.
Earlier Clinton said Washington had nothing to do with the video, which she called "disgusting and reprehensible".
In Ramallah, President Mahmoud Abbas offered his condolences to the White House upon learning of the killing, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency reported.
"On behalf of myself, personally, and all Palestinian people, we offer sincere condolences to the US president after the US ambassador in Libya was killed in a criminal attack," Abbas said.
Israeli officials also condemned the string of attacks against US diplomatic missions and said they were "evil terrorist attacks" against the West, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
In Tripoli late Thursday, Libyan deputy interior minister Wanis Sharif said authorities had made four arrests in the investigation so far.
"Four men are in custody and we are interrogating them because they are suspected of helping instigate the events at the US consulate," Sharif said.
He gave no more details.
President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice those responsible for the Benghazi attack, which US officials said may have been planned in advance.
Shaath calls on Pope to recognize refugee rights
Fatah leader Nabil Shaath on Thursday called for the head of the Catholic Church to support the rights of Palestinian refugees amid his upcoming tour to Lebanon.
Pope Benedict, making his 24th international trip and fourth to the Middle East, will spend three days preaching unity among Christians and peace between Christians and Muslims during his time in the Lebanese capital Beirut from Friday to Sunday.
Shaath welcomed the pope to the region, and called attention to the 450,000 Palestinian Christians and Muslims living in Lebanon as refugees.
The Fatah leader asked the pontiff to "to support their right to live in dignity and the right to work while in Lebanon, as well as their internationally recognized right to return."
"We respectfully reiterate our call upon the Holy See to recognize the State of Palestine, as an investment in peace, and as a tangible step towards the fulfillment of Palestinian rights," Shaath added.
Pope Benedict, making his 24th international trip and fourth to the Middle East, will spend three days preaching unity among Christians and peace between Christians and Muslims during his time in the Lebanese capital Beirut from Friday to Sunday.
Shaath welcomed the pope to the region, and called attention to the 450,000 Palestinian Christians and Muslims living in Lebanon as refugees.
The Fatah leader asked the pontiff to "to support their right to live in dignity and the right to work while in Lebanon, as well as their internationally recognized right to return."
"We respectfully reiterate our call upon the Holy See to recognize the State of Palestine, as an investment in peace, and as a tangible step towards the fulfillment of Palestinian rights," Shaath added.
12 sept 2012
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Report: Israeli filmmaker says 'Islam is a cancer'Damage at the US Consulate in Benghazi is seen during a protest by an armed group said to have been protesting a film being produced
An Israeli filmmaker whose depiction of the Prophet Muhammad led to deadly protests in Libya and Egypt called Islam 'a cancer' on Wednesday, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. Sam Bacile went into hiding on Tuesday after demonstrators denouncing the film attacked the US consulate in Libya, leaving the US ambassador and three embassy staff members dead. "Islam is a cancer, period," Haaretz quoted the self-identified Israeli-Jew as saying, adding that he intended his film to be a provocative statement condemning the religion. |
Responding to reports that an American was killed as a result of the outrage provoked by his portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad, Bacile responded that the security system at the US embassy is no good and America "should do something to change it."
The film portrayed Muhammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake and many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive.
Around 2,000 protesters gathered in Cairo to denounce the film and gunmen in Libya attacked and burned the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Ma'an's editor-in-chief Nasser Lahham said the film, entitled 'Innocence of Muslims', has "no artistic or cultural value and is a deliberate assault on the Islamic culture and religion."
Cairo, Libya missions attacked, US official reported dead
By Tamim Elyan and Omar al-Mosmari
Protesters in Egypt and Libya attacked US diplomatic missions on Tuesday in a spasm of violence that led to the death of a State Department officer at the consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi after fierce clashes at the compound.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a statement late on Tuesday, confirmed the death of the US diplomat, who was not identified, and condemned the attack on the Benghazi consulate, after a day of mayhem in two countries that raised fresh questions about Washington's relations with the Arab world.
The violence in Benghazi followed protests in neighboring Egypt where protesters scaled the walls of the Cairo embassy and tore down the American flag and burned it during protests over what demonstrators said was a US film that insulted the Prophet Mohammed.
On Tuesday, Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and seat of Sunni learning condemned a symbolic "trial" of the Prophet organized by a US group including Terry Jones, a Christian pastor who triggered riots in Afghanistan in 2010 by threatening to burn the Koran.
But it was not immediately clear whether it was the event sponsored by Jones, or another, possibly related, anti-Islam production, that prompted the melee at the US Embassy in Egypt, and possibly the violence in Libya.
Whatever the cause, the events appeared to underscore how much the ground in the Middle East has shifted for Washington, which for decades had close ties with Arab dictators who could be counted on to muzzle dissent.
US President Barack Obama's administration in recent weeks had appeared to overcome some of its initial caution following the election of an Islamist Egyptian president, Muhammad Mursi, offering his government desperately needed debt relief and backing for international loans.
In Libya, gunmen in Benghazi attacked the US diplomatic compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces, officials said.
Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya's Supreme Security Committee, said, "There is a connection between this attack and the protests that have been happening in Cairo."
But a US official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had no reason to believe the two incidents were linked.
Jones, the Christian pastor in Florida, said that on Tuesday's anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he had released a video promoting a film that portrayed the Prophet in a "satirical" manner. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive.
US media, including The Wall Street Journal, reported that the film at issue, entitled "Innocence of Muslims," was produced by an Israeli-American real estate developer, but had been promoted by Jones.
In Cairo, among about 2,000 protesters gathered in the Egyptian capital was Ismail Mahmoud, who, like others, did not name the film that angered him, but called on Mursi, Egypt's first civilian president, to take action.
"This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made," said the 19-year-old Mahmoud, a member of the "ultras" soccer supporters who played a big role in the uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak last year.
Once the US flag was hauled down in Cairo, some protesters tore it up and displayed bits to television cameras. Others burned the remnants outside the fortress-like embassy building in central Cairo. But some protesters objected to the flag burning.
Benghazi clashes
The film portrayed Muhammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake and many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive.
Around 2,000 protesters gathered in Cairo to denounce the film and gunmen in Libya attacked and burned the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Ma'an's editor-in-chief Nasser Lahham said the film, entitled 'Innocence of Muslims', has "no artistic or cultural value and is a deliberate assault on the Islamic culture and religion."
Cairo, Libya missions attacked, US official reported dead
By Tamim Elyan and Omar al-Mosmari
Protesters in Egypt and Libya attacked US diplomatic missions on Tuesday in a spasm of violence that led to the death of a State Department officer at the consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi after fierce clashes at the compound.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a statement late on Tuesday, confirmed the death of the US diplomat, who was not identified, and condemned the attack on the Benghazi consulate, after a day of mayhem in two countries that raised fresh questions about Washington's relations with the Arab world.
The violence in Benghazi followed protests in neighboring Egypt where protesters scaled the walls of the Cairo embassy and tore down the American flag and burned it during protests over what demonstrators said was a US film that insulted the Prophet Mohammed.
On Tuesday, Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar mosque and seat of Sunni learning condemned a symbolic "trial" of the Prophet organized by a US group including Terry Jones, a Christian pastor who triggered riots in Afghanistan in 2010 by threatening to burn the Koran.
But it was not immediately clear whether it was the event sponsored by Jones, or another, possibly related, anti-Islam production, that prompted the melee at the US Embassy in Egypt, and possibly the violence in Libya.
Whatever the cause, the events appeared to underscore how much the ground in the Middle East has shifted for Washington, which for decades had close ties with Arab dictators who could be counted on to muzzle dissent.
US President Barack Obama's administration in recent weeks had appeared to overcome some of its initial caution following the election of an Islamist Egyptian president, Muhammad Mursi, offering his government desperately needed debt relief and backing for international loans.
In Libya, gunmen in Benghazi attacked the US diplomatic compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces, officials said.
Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya's Supreme Security Committee, said, "There is a connection between this attack and the protests that have been happening in Cairo."
But a US official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had no reason to believe the two incidents were linked.
Jones, the Christian pastor in Florida, said that on Tuesday's anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he had released a video promoting a film that portrayed the Prophet in a "satirical" manner. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive.
US media, including The Wall Street Journal, reported that the film at issue, entitled "Innocence of Muslims," was produced by an Israeli-American real estate developer, but had been promoted by Jones.
In Cairo, among about 2,000 protesters gathered in the Egyptian capital was Ismail Mahmoud, who, like others, did not name the film that angered him, but called on Mursi, Egypt's first civilian president, to take action.
"This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made," said the 19-year-old Mahmoud, a member of the "ultras" soccer supporters who played a big role in the uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak last year.
Once the US flag was hauled down in Cairo, some protesters tore it up and displayed bits to television cameras. Others burned the remnants outside the fortress-like embassy building in central Cairo. But some protesters objected to the flag burning.
Benghazi clashes
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Ambassador Christopher Stevens
In Benghazi, Reuters reporters on the scene could see looters raiding the empty US consulate's compound, walking off with desks, chairs and washing machines. Unknown gunmen were shooting at the buildings, while others threw handmade bombs into the compound, setting off small explosions. Small fires were burning around the compound. Passersby entered the unsecured compound to take pictures with their mobile phones and watch the looting. No security forces could be seen around the consulate and a previous blockade of the road leading to it had been dismantled. |
"The Libyan security forces came under heavy fire and we were not prepared for the intensity of the attack," Hurr said.
Libya's interim government has struggled to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups that have refused to lay down their weapons and often take the law into their own hands.
A number of security violations have rocked Benghazi, Libya's second biggest city and the cradle of last year's revolt that toppled Moammar Gadhafi.
The breaching of the US Embassy walls in Cairo comes at a delicate time in US-Egyptian relations, and as the United States appeared to be trying an intensified engagement with Mursi's government.
Last week, US officials said they were close to a deal with Egypt's government for $1 billion in debt relief. Washington had also signaled its backing for a badly needed $4.8 billion loan that Egypt is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.
"I would urge you not to draw too many conclusions because we've also had some very positive developments in our relationship with Egypt," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
"One of the things about the new Egypt is that protest is possible," she said. "Obviously we all want to see peaceful protest, which is not what happened outside the US mission, so we're trying to restore calm now."
Washington has a large mission in Egypt, partly because of a huge aid program that followed Egypt's signing of a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. The United States gives $1.3 billion to Egypt's military each year and offers the nation other aid.
Following the protest, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it was committed to giving all embassies the protection they needed.
US ambassador to Libya, 3 staff killed in rocket attack
Libyan official confirms that four embassy staff were killed in Tuesday rocket attack in Benghazi after protesters angered by anti-Islam film attacked US consulate. Obama condemns 'outrageous attack'
President Barack Obama on Wednesday strongly condemned the killing of the US ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff as an "outrageous attack" and ordered increased security at US diplomatic posts worldwide.
"I have directed my administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe," Obama said in a statement after the US diplomats were killed in a rocket attack on their car in Benghazi.
"While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants," he said.
US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on Tuesday night that targeted his car in Benghazi, a Libyan official said on Wednesday.
"The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them," the official in Benghazi told Reuters. Asked about the deaths, a US Embassy employee in Tripoli said: "We have no information regarding this." The employee said the embassy could confirm the death of one person.
The Libyan official said the US ambassador had been on his way to a safer venue after protesters attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi and opened fire, killing a staff member, in protest at a US film that they deemed blasphemous to the Prophet Mohammad.
The official said the ambassador and three other staff were killed when gunmen fired rockets at his car.
He said the US Embassy had sent a military plane to transport the bodies to Tripoli to fly them to the United States.
Gunmen assaulted the Benghazi compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces, who withdrew under heavy fire. The attackers fired at the buildings while others threw handmade bombs into the compound, setting off small explosions. Small fires were burning around the compound.
The assault followed a protest in neighboring Egypt where demonstrators scaled the walls of the US embassy, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over the same film which they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
Following the spasm of attacks, the filmmaker, who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, has gone into hiding.
Writer and director Sam Bacile spoke on the phone Tuesday from an unidentified location. He remained defiant, saying Islam is "a cancer" and he wanted his film to make a political statement.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed the death of a US diplomat, who was not identified at the time, and condemned the attack on the Benghazi consulate.
Clinton further expressed concern that the protests might spread to other countries. She said the US is working with "partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide."
Libya's interim government has struggled to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups that have refused to lay down their weapons and often take the law into their own hands.
A number of security violations have rocked Benghazi, Libya's second biggest city and the cradle of last year's revolt that toppled Moammar Gadhafi.
The breaching of the US Embassy walls in Cairo comes at a delicate time in US-Egyptian relations, and as the United States appeared to be trying an intensified engagement with Mursi's government.
Last week, US officials said they were close to a deal with Egypt's government for $1 billion in debt relief. Washington had also signaled its backing for a badly needed $4.8 billion loan that Egypt is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.
"I would urge you not to draw too many conclusions because we've also had some very positive developments in our relationship with Egypt," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
"One of the things about the new Egypt is that protest is possible," she said. "Obviously we all want to see peaceful protest, which is not what happened outside the US mission, so we're trying to restore calm now."
Washington has a large mission in Egypt, partly because of a huge aid program that followed Egypt's signing of a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. The United States gives $1.3 billion to Egypt's military each year and offers the nation other aid.
Following the protest, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it was committed to giving all embassies the protection they needed.
US ambassador to Libya, 3 staff killed in rocket attack
Libyan official confirms that four embassy staff were killed in Tuesday rocket attack in Benghazi after protesters angered by anti-Islam film attacked US consulate. Obama condemns 'outrageous attack'
President Barack Obama on Wednesday strongly condemned the killing of the US ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff as an "outrageous attack" and ordered increased security at US diplomatic posts worldwide.
"I have directed my administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe," Obama said in a statement after the US diplomats were killed in a rocket attack on their car in Benghazi.
"While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants," he said.
US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on Tuesday night that targeted his car in Benghazi, a Libyan official said on Wednesday.
"The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them," the official in Benghazi told Reuters. Asked about the deaths, a US Embassy employee in Tripoli said: "We have no information regarding this." The employee said the embassy could confirm the death of one person.
The Libyan official said the US ambassador had been on his way to a safer venue after protesters attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi and opened fire, killing a staff member, in protest at a US film that they deemed blasphemous to the Prophet Mohammad.
The official said the ambassador and three other staff were killed when gunmen fired rockets at his car.
He said the US Embassy had sent a military plane to transport the bodies to Tripoli to fly them to the United States.
Gunmen assaulted the Benghazi compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces, who withdrew under heavy fire. The attackers fired at the buildings while others threw handmade bombs into the compound, setting off small explosions. Small fires were burning around the compound.
The assault followed a protest in neighboring Egypt where demonstrators scaled the walls of the US embassy, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over the same film which they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
Following the spasm of attacks, the filmmaker, who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, has gone into hiding.
Writer and director Sam Bacile spoke on the phone Tuesday from an unidentified location. He remained defiant, saying Islam is "a cancer" and he wanted his film to make a political statement.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed the death of a US diplomat, who was not identified at the time, and condemned the attack on the Benghazi consulate.
Clinton further expressed concern that the protests might spread to other countries. She said the US is working with "partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide."
5 sept 2012
France Condemns Arson of Monastery in Jerusalem
Spokesman of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement Wednesday, said France condemned Jewish settlers setting fire to a monastery in Latrun, an area west of Jerusalem, describing it as an act of vandalism directed at a place of worship and peace.
It expressed its wholehearted solidarity with the community of monks, “The Cistercian Abbey of Latrun is a religious community protected by France under the so-called Chauvel-Fischer agreements concluded with the State of Israel,” said the statement.
France called on the Israeli authorities to shed full light on these serious acts and to bring those responsible to justice.
Foreign Ministry Calls on Vatican to Condemn Setting Fire to Monastery
Foreign ministry, in a statement Wednesday, called on the state of Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI to condemn setting fire to a Monastery by Jewish settlers in Latrun, an area west of Jerusalem.
The ministry urged the state of Vatican to immediately recognize the state of Palestine based on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, as well as to link its relations with Israel based on Israel’s adherence to the peace references, international legitimacy, and the Palestinian people’s rights.
It also called on the international community, particularly the international Quartet, to condemn this criminal racist settlers’ attack and to hold the Israeli government fully responsible for it and for the failure of the peace process and negotiations.
It urged the United Nations, its Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and its human rights organizations to uphold their responsibilities towards the Palestinian people and their right to self- determination.
It expressed its wholehearted solidarity with the community of monks, “The Cistercian Abbey of Latrun is a religious community protected by France under the so-called Chauvel-Fischer agreements concluded with the State of Israel,” said the statement.
France called on the Israeli authorities to shed full light on these serious acts and to bring those responsible to justice.
Foreign Ministry Calls on Vatican to Condemn Setting Fire to Monastery
Foreign ministry, in a statement Wednesday, called on the state of Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI to condemn setting fire to a Monastery by Jewish settlers in Latrun, an area west of Jerusalem.
The ministry urged the state of Vatican to immediately recognize the state of Palestine based on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, as well as to link its relations with Israel based on Israel’s adherence to the peace references, international legitimacy, and the Palestinian people’s rights.
It also called on the international community, particularly the international Quartet, to condemn this criminal racist settlers’ attack and to hold the Israeli government fully responsible for it and for the failure of the peace process and negotiations.
It urged the United Nations, its Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and its human rights organizations to uphold their responsibilities towards the Palestinian people and their right to self- determination.
4 sept 2012
Vandals desecrate Latrun Monastery
Names of outposts on monastery's walls
Door of Christian holy site torched; 'Jesus is a monkey', names of West Bank outposts spray-painted on walls. 'Whoever did this has no God,' says monastery guard. Police launch investigation.
Vandals set fire to the entrance door of the Latrun Monastery early Tuesday and spray-painted slogans against the Christian religion on its walls, including names of West Bank outposts and "Jesus is a monkey".
The Jerusalem District Police launched an investigation into the incident.
The monastery's wooden door caught fire. The abbot, Father Louie, told Ynet: "At around 3:30 am, a monk sleeping in one of the guest rooms heard a noise, went outside and saw the door burning. He entered our rooms and began shouting and waking us up.
"I went outside and saw the entire door on fire. He put out the fire with an extinguisher we had. If he hadn't done that, everything would have caught fire."
The monastery's guard, Elias, called the police. "I didn't see anything," he said. "At around 3:30 am I drove by and didn't see anything suspicious. Ten minutes later I saw the door on fire and the graffiti.
"I'm sure that whoever did it came from the olive grove because the gate isn't high there and one can easily jump over it. Unfortunately, there are no security cameras here."
The monks appeared very offended by the incident.
Door of Christian holy site torched; 'Jesus is a monkey', names of West Bank outposts spray-painted on walls. 'Whoever did this has no God,' says monastery guard. Police launch investigation.
Vandals set fire to the entrance door of the Latrun Monastery early Tuesday and spray-painted slogans against the Christian religion on its walls, including names of West Bank outposts and "Jesus is a monkey".
The Jerusalem District Police launched an investigation into the incident.
The monastery's wooden door caught fire. The abbot, Father Louie, told Ynet: "At around 3:30 am, a monk sleeping in one of the guest rooms heard a noise, went outside and saw the door burning. He entered our rooms and began shouting and waking us up.
"I went outside and saw the entire door on fire. He put out the fire with an extinguisher we had. If he hadn't done that, everything would have caught fire."
The monastery's guard, Elias, called the police. "I didn't see anything," he said. "At around 3:30 am I drove by and didn't see anything suspicious. Ten minutes later I saw the door on fire and the graffiti.
"I'm sure that whoever did it came from the olive grove because the gate isn't high there and one can easily jump over it. Unfortunately, there are no security cameras here."
The monks appeared very offended by the incident.
Jesus is a monkey
"I know there is some tension, but I don't understand why it has to do with us," said Father Louie. "We're Christians and we have nothing to do with it. We try to do everything with love. We are saddened by this incident. It's a shame that some people are unwilling to live with and accept people who are different." |
Acting Jerusalem District Police Commander Meni Yitzhaki visited the monastery on Tuesday morning.
"We've appointed a special investigation team to look into the incident," he said. "We are taking it very seriously and view it as extremely severe. This is the reason I have come here. We'll catch the vandals and handle the situation with other security elements. We are very sorry about this incident."
"This monastery has many visitors," noted the guard, Elias. "People come in all the time. The monks go to sleep early and no one noticed a thing. Whoever did this has no God, they just say they do."
The police have been preparing for "price tag" actions by extreme right-wing activists, which are usually directed at Palestinians, following the evacuation of the West Bank outpost of Migron in recent days.
The targeting of a Christian symbol has the potential of making waves in the Western world, which is widely covering the situation in Jerusalem and its surroundings.
This isn't the first time a Christian site has been the target of such an operation. In February, vandals daubed "Death to Christianity" on a Jerusalem church and slashed the tires of three vehicles parked nearby.
"We've appointed a special investigation team to look into the incident," he said. "We are taking it very seriously and view it as extremely severe. This is the reason I have come here. We'll catch the vandals and handle the situation with other security elements. We are very sorry about this incident."
"This monastery has many visitors," noted the guard, Elias. "People come in all the time. The monks go to sleep early and no one noticed a thing. Whoever did this has no God, they just say they do."
The police have been preparing for "price tag" actions by extreme right-wing activists, which are usually directed at Palestinians, following the evacuation of the West Bank outpost of Migron in recent days.
The targeting of a Christian symbol has the potential of making waves in the Western world, which is widely covering the situation in Jerusalem and its surroundings.
This isn't the first time a Christian site has been the target of such an operation. In February, vandals daubed "Death to Christianity" on a Jerusalem church and slashed the tires of three vehicles parked nearby.
Jerusalem monastery torched, racist graffiti sprayed on walls
Vandals torched the wooden door of a monastery near Jerusalem on Tuesday and pro-settler graffiti daubed in Hebrew was discovered on the building's stone walls, Israeli police said.
"Police have opened a special investigation into the incident," Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said of the arson that occurred at the Latrun Monastery.
Rosenfeld said the name of an unauthorized settler outpost evacuated this week, called "Migron" and the words "Jesus is a monkey" were also scrawled at the holy site located inside Israel but not far from the occupied West Bank.
In August, PA official Ghassan Daghlas warned Palestinians to be cautious of settler attacks ahead of the planned evacuation of illegal Israeli outpost Migron, near Ramallah.
The evacuation of the illegal Ulpana outpost in June led to a spate of "price tag" attacks on mosques, Palestinians and their property.
Israeli security officials had also expressed concern about possible acts of retribution by a suspected settler vigilante group known as "Price Tag," for Sunday's court-ordered eviction of 50 families from the illegal outpost.
In February, suspected Jewish extremists wrote "Death to Christianity" on two Jerusalem churches. The graffiti also included profanity about Jesus, and the vandals slashed the tires of several cars parked in one of the church compounds.
"Price Tag" attacks have targeted mosques, Palestinian homes and Israeli military installations in the occupied West Bank.
An ancient mosque in Jerusalem was torched on Dec. 13, and sprayed with the Star of David, "price tag," "Muhammad is a pig" and "A good Arab is a dead Arab" in Hebrew.
Islamic-Christian Commission Condemns Settlers Setting Fire to Monastery
The Islamic-Christian Commission in Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites, in a statement Tuesday, condemned Jewish settlers setting fire to a Monastery in Latrun, an area west of Jerusalem, and spraying anti-Christian graffiti on its walls in an apparent “price tag” attack.
The committee stressed the existence of a racial extremist Israeli plan aiming to start a religious war between Muslims and Christians, on one hand, and with Jews on the other hand, aiming to change the political conflict into a religious conflict.
It held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for this attack, calling for the need to stop the attacks against holy sites and places of worship and respect all religions.
Meanwhile, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin El Husseini, condemned the attack on the monastery and all settlers’ attacks, provided by the Israeli authorities security cover, on places of worship.
He said these settlers’ attacks reflect the hatred of settlers toward the Palestinian people, including Muslims and Christians.
It also condemned the Israeli authorities’ complicity with settlers in their attacks against holy sites and places of worship.
He called on the human rights organizations to monitor these Israeli violations against the Palestinian people’s right to freedom of religion, calling to enact a law criminalizing anyone who abuses the religious sanctities and put them on trial.
Presidency Condemns Settlers Setting Fire to Monastery
Presidency, in a statement Tuesday, condemned Jewish settlers setting fire to a Monastery in Latrun, an area west of Jerusalem.
It said that this attack is a dangerous and criminal act that infuses hate and malice.
The presidency held Israeli government responsible for the settlers’ ongoing attacks against Palestinians, their properties and holy sites. It called on the international community to stop such actions that threaten peace and stability in the area.
"Police have opened a special investigation into the incident," Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said of the arson that occurred at the Latrun Monastery.
Rosenfeld said the name of an unauthorized settler outpost evacuated this week, called "Migron" and the words "Jesus is a monkey" were also scrawled at the holy site located inside Israel but not far from the occupied West Bank.
In August, PA official Ghassan Daghlas warned Palestinians to be cautious of settler attacks ahead of the planned evacuation of illegal Israeli outpost Migron, near Ramallah.
The evacuation of the illegal Ulpana outpost in June led to a spate of "price tag" attacks on mosques, Palestinians and their property.
Israeli security officials had also expressed concern about possible acts of retribution by a suspected settler vigilante group known as "Price Tag," for Sunday's court-ordered eviction of 50 families from the illegal outpost.
In February, suspected Jewish extremists wrote "Death to Christianity" on two Jerusalem churches. The graffiti also included profanity about Jesus, and the vandals slashed the tires of several cars parked in one of the church compounds.
"Price Tag" attacks have targeted mosques, Palestinian homes and Israeli military installations in the occupied West Bank.
An ancient mosque in Jerusalem was torched on Dec. 13, and sprayed with the Star of David, "price tag," "Muhammad is a pig" and "A good Arab is a dead Arab" in Hebrew.
Islamic-Christian Commission Condemns Settlers Setting Fire to Monastery
The Islamic-Christian Commission in Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites, in a statement Tuesday, condemned Jewish settlers setting fire to a Monastery in Latrun, an area west of Jerusalem, and spraying anti-Christian graffiti on its walls in an apparent “price tag” attack.
The committee stressed the existence of a racial extremist Israeli plan aiming to start a religious war between Muslims and Christians, on one hand, and with Jews on the other hand, aiming to change the political conflict into a religious conflict.
It held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for this attack, calling for the need to stop the attacks against holy sites and places of worship and respect all religions.
Meanwhile, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin El Husseini, condemned the attack on the monastery and all settlers’ attacks, provided by the Israeli authorities security cover, on places of worship.
He said these settlers’ attacks reflect the hatred of settlers toward the Palestinian people, including Muslims and Christians.
It also condemned the Israeli authorities’ complicity with settlers in their attacks against holy sites and places of worship.
He called on the human rights organizations to monitor these Israeli violations against the Palestinian people’s right to freedom of religion, calling to enact a law criminalizing anyone who abuses the religious sanctities and put them on trial.
Presidency Condemns Settlers Setting Fire to Monastery
Presidency, in a statement Tuesday, condemned Jewish settlers setting fire to a Monastery in Latrun, an area west of Jerusalem.
It said that this attack is a dangerous and criminal act that infuses hate and malice.
The presidency held Israeli government responsible for the settlers’ ongoing attacks against Palestinians, their properties and holy sites. It called on the international community to stop such actions that threaten peace and stability in the area.